Laurel, Montana
11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Laurel census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59044. The Survey maps it on the Laurel quadrangle. 7,222 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,301 feet above sea level.
On record in Laurel
Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.
On the National Register 4 records
Abraham and Carrie Erb Houselisted 2005
Laurel Downtown Historic Districtlisted 2010
Mossman Overpasslisted 2012- Riverside Park, Laurellisted 2024
Population over time
2 figuresLaurel grew from 6,718 to 7,222 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 6,718 | |
| 2020 | 7,222 | +504 (+8%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
6 surveys from 11 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1954 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Laurel quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1969 USGS Laurel quadrangle1:24000
- 1989 USGS Billings quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
77 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 77 fires within 5 miles of Laurel between 1997 and 2020, burning about 74 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 65 |
| Debris and open burning | 5 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Southern Land Office | I-90 MM 437 |
| 25 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.3 acres | Southern Land Office | SPRING CREEK |
| 25 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Southern Land Office | EAST RAILROAD & BARNHART RD |
| 24 August 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Southern Land Office | LAUREL MM433 |
| 24 August 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Miles City Field Office | ANDY |
| 19 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Southern Land Office | 905 W. MAIN-LAUREL |
| 19 August 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Southern Land Office | PRYOR CREEK |
| 15 August 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Yellowstone County | WOLD RD |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Laurel: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krug Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Mossmain Sand and Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
46 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Laurel in 46 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 33 hail, 9 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | $500,000 | At Laurel hanger damaged at airport and trees down around town. At Billings Airport plane was turned over. Lots of roof and tree damage around town. |
| June 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | $50,000 | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Laurel | $5,000 | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Hail | Laurel | - | Hail report. |
| August 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | - | A tree approximately 6 inches in diameter was downed. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | - | An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported in Laurel. |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | - | The public reported 6-8 diameter tree branches broken along with a power outage and a roof being blown off a dugout. |
| May 2007 | Hail | Laurel | - | Winds were gusting around 30 to 40 mph. |
| July 2007 | Flash Flood | Laurel | - | A road was reported washed out in the city of Laurel. |
| June 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | Windows smashed and roof damaged |
| July 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | Hail covered the ground |
| July 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | - | Wind damage and power outage. |
| July 1998 | Funnel Cloud | Laurel | - | Several spotters and amateur radio operators reported funnel clouds in and around Laurel. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 2021 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2021 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| May 2019 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| May 2016 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| May 2014 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| August 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2004 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2002 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| September 2002 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Tornado (F0) | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| February 1997 | Flood | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| June 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
| May 1994 | Hail | Laurel | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Laurel | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q768628 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 773254. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.





